I am looking for resources for map building in my home brew campaign. I have found some random generators, but that’s not what I am looking for.
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Luke, you can destroy the Emperor. He has foreseen this. It is your destiny. Join me, and together, we can rule the galaxy as father and son! Come with me. It is the only way.
And here I thought I was on my best behavior. BUT NO I got scolded and threatened with corner time. I guess we are not allowed to express our feelings or opinions on anything here. All hugs and kisses every body's special every one gets a ribbon that says 'Your a winner" Not here more then a week and I got naughty points twice. How many points do I get?
And here I thought I was on my best behavior. BUT NO I got scolded and threatened with corner time. I guess we are not allowed to express our feelings or opinions on anything here. All hugs and kisses every body's special every one gets a ribbon that says 'Your a winner" Not here more then a week and I got naughty points twice. How many points do I get?
I'll give a shout out to Campaign Cartographer from ProFantasy. It's not free, but it's the best map making software I've ever come across. CAD based, so there's a small learning curve, but it has tremendous capabilities. Been using it for years. And there's a lot of available support, map packs, free maps to edit, etc. Also the ability to make cities, dungeons, etc.
If you want to build dungeons. I would suggest dungeon painter studios, there is a free web browser version and a paid version on steam with LOADS of different assets.
Taking20 had links to those my first post was the name of the paid version as when IO tried the free windows 10 didn't work I adobe issue.
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And here I thought I was on my best behavior. BUT NO I got scolded and threatened with corner time. I guess we are not allowed to express our feelings or opinions on anything here. All hugs and kisses every body's special every one gets a ribbon that says 'Your a winner" Not here more then a week and I got naughty points twice. How many points do I get?
If you're looking to make tactical-scale battlemaps, check out MapForge. Actually, it can do area/regional maps, too, now. MapForge can be used for free if you only need low resolution output. And there are 11 free content Add-Ons for it to get you started.
I'll give a shout out to Campaign Cartographer from ProFantasy. It's not free, but it's the best map making software I've ever come across. CAD based, so there's a small learning curve, but it has tremendous capabilities. Been using it for years. And there's a lot of available support, map packs, free maps to edit, etc. Also the ability to make cities, dungeons, etc.
I'm going to disagree. Campaign Cartographer is pretty crap. It's ancient software developed for Windows 95 or so and hasn't really been updated since then - and the user experience/user interface really shows those roots.
There are a number of better pieces of mapping software out there - Fractal Mapper, Other World Mapper, Inkarnate, even Photoshop or GIMP are so much easier to use, and with interfaces that aren't fighting you every step of the way (or just make you barf).
*Some* of the icon sets for Campaign Cartographer are acceptable, but the vast majority of them don't look very good.
I'll give a shout out to Campaign Cartographer from ProFantasy. It's not free, but it's the best map making software I've ever come across. CAD based, so there's a small learning curve, but it has tremendous capabilities. Been using it for years. And there's a lot of available support, map packs, free maps to edit, etc. Also the ability to make cities, dungeons, etc.
I'm going to disagree. Campaign Cartographer is pretty crap. It's ancient software developed for Windows 95 or so and hasn't really been updated since then - and the user experience/user interface really shows those roots.
There are a number of better pieces of mapping software out there - Fractal Mapper, Other World Mapper, Inkarnate, even Photoshop or GIMP are so much easier to use, and with interfaces that aren't fighting you every step of the way (or just make you barf).
*Some* of the icon sets for Campaign Cartographer are acceptable, but the vast majority of them don't look very good.
It's a CAD interface, so if you're not used to that, it's a steep learning curve. But once you get used to it, there's no way that Photoshop is going to be as fast and easy to use. I've used CC on current Windows systems with no difficulties--what version of windows it came out for originally doesn't have anything to do with the interface. It wasn't designed for tablets or online interfacing, so ymmv depending on what kind of software you can use or adapt to using. But CAD is still in use in professional drafting/architecture/engineer/construction/urban planning/cartography today, still the leading platform in those areas afaik. Fractal mapping isn't going to get you anything like the precision of mapmaking that CC can, it's not even close to the same kind of map making.
Once you learn CAD, a map like this is a few hours work in CC. All custom, I'm not talking randomly generated continents.
There's definitely a place for random stuff, for fractals, and for most of the other services out there. But the interface only 'fights' you if you haven't learned how to use it. Not knowing, or learning CAD, isn't the same as CAD being a bad interface.
Some more to add. The source files for CC3+ are quite small, but you can still zoom in to your desired detail level, and will get high quality results. That‘s because the assets for placing e.g. mountains is available in (4?) different resolutions. Self generated content of your own work can be used for commercial purposes as well. Yes, it will definitely take more time than creating some dungeon with Illwinter. What you’d use when depends on the usecase. I agree drawing a dungeon shouldn‘t take more than 10 minutes. At least my players don‘t value if I put 10 hours or 10 minutes into a map.
Some more to add. The source files for CC3+ are quite small, but you can still zoom in to your desired detail level, and will get high quality results. That‘s because the assets for placing e.g. mountains is available in (4?) different resolutions. Self generated content of your own work can be used for commercial purposes as well. Yes, it will definitely take more time than creating some dungeon with Illwinter. What you’d use when depends on the usecase. I agree drawing a dungeon shouldn‘t take more than 10 minutes. At least my players don‘t value if I put 10 hours or 10 minutes into a map.
Well said. For the majority of maps, you're totally right that you don't need much. A map sketched on the back of the pizza box is perfectly serviceable for a dungeon you're never coming back to :) I do find that some players appreciate world maps, city maps, and other maps that you'll use often, when they are well done, though. Plus, a lot of people just like maps for their own sake. I will admit that my bias towards a program like CC is partly due to the quality of the product, partly due to the fact that I'm a good user (as opposed to a programmer...not good at that), and also partly due to me being the sort of person who will spend free time creating maps I'll never use, just because it's fun :)
If your players don't care, and a 30 second sketch is all they need, and you as a DM don't care either, then the learning curve for CC may not be worth it to you.
If you're looking to make tactical-scale battlemaps, check out MapForge. Actually, it can do area/regional maps, too, now. MapForge can be used for free if you only need low resolution output. And there are 11 free content Add-Ons for it to get you started.
Update, after a couple of years: There are now 41 free content Add-Ons for MapForge. That amounts to around 6500 mapping assets (covering various game genres), all categorized, searchable, and properly scaled. The majority of that content can even be used in commercial projects.
The app itself has grown, too. It can now make hex-tiles maps and isometric maps, in addition to top-down.
I am looking for resources for map building in my home brew campaign. I have found some random generators, but that’s not what I am looking for.
Luke, you can destroy the Emperor. He has foreseen this. It is your destiny. Join me, and together, we can rule the galaxy as father and son! Come with me. It is the only way.
Dungeon Painter Studio
And here I thought I was on my best behavior. BUT NO I got scolded and threatened with corner time. I guess we are not allowed to express our feelings or opinions on anything here. All hugs and kisses every body's special every one gets a ribbon that says 'Your a winner" Not here more then a week and I got naughty points twice. How many points do I get?
https://arkenforge.com/
And here I thought I was on my best behavior. BUT NO I got scolded and threatened with corner time. I guess we are not allowed to express our feelings or opinions on anything here. All hugs and kisses every body's special every one gets a ribbon that says 'Your a winner" Not here more then a week and I got naughty points twice. How many points do I get?
I'll give a shout out to Campaign Cartographer from ProFantasy. It's not free, but it's the best map making software I've ever come across. CAD based, so there's a small learning curve, but it has tremendous capabilities. Been using it for years. And there's a lot of available support, map packs, free maps to edit, etc. Also the ability to make cities, dungeons, etc.
Looking for new subclasses, spells, magic items, feats, and races? Opinions welcome :)
If you want to build dungeons. I would suggest dungeon painter studios, there is a free web browser version and a paid version on steam with LOADS of different assets.
Or use Illwinter‘s Floorplan Gemerator, which is cheap and easy to use: https://steamcommunity.com/app/630900
Another recommendation for Arkenforge - especially as they are starting to now incorporate campaign features.
Taking20 had links to those my first post was the name of the paid version as when IO tried the free windows 10 didn't work I adobe issue.
And here I thought I was on my best behavior. BUT NO I got scolded and threatened with corner time. I guess we are not allowed to express our feelings or opinions on anything here. All hugs and kisses every body's special every one gets a ribbon that says 'Your a winner" Not here more then a week and I got naughty points twice. How many points do I get?
https://inkarnate.com
There are free and paid versions. I've also used ProFantasy as mentioned above.
If you're looking to make tactical-scale battlemaps, check out MapForge. Actually, it can do area/regional maps, too, now. MapForge can be used for free if you only need low resolution output. And there are 11 free content Add-Ons for it to get you started.
I'm going to disagree. Campaign Cartographer is pretty crap. It's ancient software developed for Windows 95 or so and hasn't really been updated since then - and the user experience/user interface really shows those roots.
There are a number of better pieces of mapping software out there - Fractal Mapper, Other World Mapper, Inkarnate, even Photoshop or GIMP are so much easier to use, and with interfaces that aren't fighting you every step of the way (or just make you barf).
*Some* of the icon sets for Campaign Cartographer are acceptable, but the vast majority of them don't look very good.
Worldographer from Inkwell, and the new Dungeonfog is pretty cool too.
It's a CAD interface, so if you're not used to that, it's a steep learning curve. But once you get used to it, there's no way that Photoshop is going to be as fast and easy to use. I've used CC on current Windows systems with no difficulties--what version of windows it came out for originally doesn't have anything to do with the interface. It wasn't designed for tablets or online interfacing, so ymmv depending on what kind of software you can use or adapt to using. But CAD is still in use in professional drafting/architecture/engineer/construction/urban planning/cartography today, still the leading platform in those areas afaik. Fractal mapping isn't going to get you anything like the precision of mapmaking that CC can, it's not even close to the same kind of map making.
Once you learn CAD, a map like this is a few hours work in CC. All custom, I'm not talking randomly generated continents.
There's definitely a place for random stuff, for fractals, and for most of the other services out there. But the interface only 'fights' you if you haven't learned how to use it. Not knowing, or learning CAD, isn't the same as CAD being a bad interface.
Looking for new subclasses, spells, magic items, feats, and races? Opinions welcome :)
Some more to add. The source files for CC3+ are quite small, but you can still zoom in to your desired detail level, and will get high quality results. That‘s because the assets for placing e.g. mountains is available in (4?) different resolutions. Self generated content of your own work can be used for commercial purposes as well. Yes, it will definitely take more time than creating some dungeon with Illwinter. What you’d use when depends on the usecase. I agree drawing a dungeon shouldn‘t take more than 10 minutes. At least my players don‘t value if I put 10 hours or 10 minutes into a map.
These are all pretty reasonably priced:
For world maps I like wonderdraft
https://www.wonderdraft.net
For dungeons, I like dungeon painter studio
https://store.steampowered.com/app/592260/Dungeon_Painter_Studio/
and one more I use a lot, not for maps per se, but nice if you want to make quick visuals to show your players, flowscape
https://pixelforest.itch.io/flowscape
Legendary Bundle ~ Master Tier
Well said. For the majority of maps, you're totally right that you don't need much. A map sketched on the back of the pizza box is perfectly serviceable for a dungeon you're never coming back to :) I do find that some players appreciate world maps, city maps, and other maps that you'll use often, when they are well done, though. Plus, a lot of people just like maps for their own sake. I will admit that my bias towards a program like CC is partly due to the quality of the product, partly due to the fact that I'm a good user (as opposed to a programmer...not good at that), and also partly due to me being the sort of person who will spend free time creating maps I'll never use, just because it's fun :)
If your players don't care, and a 30 second sketch is all they need, and you as a DM don't care either, then the learning curve for CC may not be worth it to you.
Looking for new subclasses, spells, magic items, feats, and races? Opinions welcome :)
Update, after a couple of years: There are now 41 free content Add-Ons for MapForge. That amounts to around 6500 mapping assets (covering various game genres), all categorized, searchable, and properly scaled. The majority of that content can even be used in commercial projects.
The app itself has grown, too. It can now make hex-tiles maps and isometric maps, in addition to top-down.
And in response to the OP, this page of links should prove quite useful.